Railway tracks to be upgraded countrywide under CPEC

ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 (APP): The Ministry of Railways will upgrade
its existing tracks besides installing new railway tracks from
Gwadar-Quetta-Jacobabad via Besima Tehsil in Balochistan, under
China-Pak-Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Under the project, a total 560 kilometres track from
Bostan-Kotla Jam on the main line-II via Zhob and Dera Ismail Khan
and another 682 kilometres track from Havelian to Khunjerab will be
laid, a source in the Ministry of Railways told APP.
The upgradation of 1,872 kilometres track from Karachi to
Peshawar via Kotri, Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi (including Taxila-
Havelian) – along with dualization of the track from Shahdara to
Peshawar will also be carried out.
To enhance connectivity and improve transportation facilities,
1,254 kilometres of railway track from Kotri to Attock City via
Dadu, Larkana, Jacobabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar and Kundian will
be upgraded.
The CPEC is a 3,000-kilometer network of roads, railways and
pipelines to transport oil and gas from Gwadar Port to Kashgar city,
Northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
The project links China’s strategy to develop its western
region with Pakistan’s focus on boosting its economy, including the
infrastructure construction of Gwadar Port, together with some
energy cooperation and investment programmes.
It also involves road and railway construction including the
upgradation of 1,300-km Karakoram Highway, the highest paved
international road in the world which connects China and Pakistan
across the Karakoram mountains.
The CPEC will reduce China’s routes of oil and gas imports
from Africa and the Middle East by thousands of kilometers, making
Gwadar a potentially vital link in China’s supply chain.